Poor boy Jeff Allen (William Gregory Lee) comes to the big city to fulfill his dream of becoming a stockbroker. With the help of a bartender, Annabella (Elisa Donovan), he gets a interview with Dyson Keller (Eric Roberts) of Wolf Brothers and soon is on his way to becoming a success. But his relationship with Annabella begins to create conflicts with his boss, who wants him to be nothing but a member of the pack.
David DeCoteau confuses me. He makes films that don’t seem to be for anyone, nor do they have consistent direction or tone. He tosses everything into his films as if that will appeal to the fans of those divergent elements. But the parts all conflict.
So, this time he’s made a business flick with lots and lots of dialog. It’s also a werewolf film, with, well, lots and lots of talking. It’s got a little of DeCoteau’s usual homoeroticism, but all those buff males keep chasing females. It’s a message picture about what greed can turn you into, except that all vanishes long before the end.
The idea of lycanthropy as a metaphor for greed isn’t a bad one. The predatory businessman as beast was used successfully in Wolf. But there needs to be some action and horror elements or there’s nothing to act as a symbol. It also would be nice if the werewolves became werewolves at some point. Wolves of Wall Street gives us guys with a little white makeup lit with blue. They do growl a bit and bite people, but it’s just not that impressive. Perhaps there’s a way to make a werewolf film without the werewolves, but at this point, that method is still a mystery.
DeCoteau does fill the movie with good looking men, who dress extremely well. They also wear matching underwear and all get undressed together at a company party. Once you’ve got a bunch of muscled young men in briefs crawling across the floor together, I’m not sure why you don’t take the minute step and actually have a homosexual relationship in the flick.
Perhaps I missed the point of the film. Maybe the whole thing is supposed to be a tease. We’re teased that there will be meaning. We’re teased with the horror of werewolves. We’re teased with gay sex. But I’ve never liked being teased. I prefer to actually get what is suggested. If Wolves of Wall Street delivered, then the people who like what it is offering could watch the film and enjoy it. In its current state, I can’t imagine anyone taking pleasure in it.
DeCoteau also directed the even more confusing Ring of Darkness.